


Perhaps You Need Directions?

by Just_Another_Day



Series: The Veretian Flytrap Side Stories [1]
Category: Captive Prince - C. S. Pacat
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Damen Will Take What He Can Get At This Point, Deleted Scenes, Exhibitionism, F/M, Fantasizing, M/M, POV Laurent (Captive Prince), Smut, Substitution, The Smut is for the Side Pairing, Voyeurism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-10
Updated: 2018-06-10
Packaged: 2019-05-20 11:05:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14893442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Just_Another_Day/pseuds/Just_Another_Day
Summary: For once, Laurent doesn't entirely think through all the possibilities, and backs himself into a corner.





	Perhaps You Need Directions?

**Author's Note:**

> This was basically a deleted scene from [The Veretian Flytrap](https://archiveofourown.org/works/9388559). I was always hesitant to include it with the series because it doesn't actually fit into the storyline anymore. But after seeing it still sitting half-finished on my hard drive well over a year since I wrote it, well, what the hell. I figure if I just post it as separate from the series then I can happily clear it from my fic folder. Might as well, yeah?
> 
> So, a bit of context/commentary, for those who are interested: Once upon a time when I was writing The Veretian Flytrap, the boys' meeting with the Vaskian tribe was going to happen fairly early in the plot. It would have been at about Chapter 14/15. Rather than riding south into Akielos from Ravenel at that point, as happened in the final version of the fic, Damen and Laurent would instead have gone east to Acquitart. But in the end it didn't really make a lot of sense for things to occur in that order, so I shifted everything around, and eventually the meeting with Halvik's group ended up happening all the way into Chapter 27 instead. That was way too late for this scene to actually work in the context of Laurent and Damen's more developed relationship. And then, while I was finally completing/editing the scene today, I embellished it so that it probably no longer fits where Laurent's head was at in the earlier chapters, even though that was where it initially belonged. So this is now some confusing and unholy amalgam of timelines. It's an AU of my AU, if you will.
> 
>  **Tl;dr:** This scene now only loosely occurs in the Veretian Flytrap universe. You don't really need to have read any of the rest of the series to be able to read this fic. Though it's probably important to know that the thing in the gardens with Ancel, along with Laurent's early canonical abuse of Damen, never happened in this verse. Damen was never a slave, so they're on fairly equal ground with each other. Also, it's Omegaverse, in case you missed the tags.

"Halvik would like for you to avail yourself of her girl there," Laurent advised him. Dryly, he added, "Apparently, you look as though you could strengthen the tribe. Vask appears to care even less about bastards than Akielos."

Damen blinked almost comically and said nothing for a long moment. Then he asked, "To 'avail' myself?"

Amused at his obvious discomfort and hesitation, Laurent said haughtily, "And here I was under the impression you were highly familiar with the art of bedding a woman. What? Do you require a description of what it entails? Or perhaps you need directions?"

Laurent almost immediately came to regret those flippant words.

"Directions? From you? Well that's not an offer I ever thought I'd hear you make," Damen mused, too thoughtfully. 

Where Laurent had anticipated that he would brush Laurent's comment off outright, or that he'd perhaps be incensed about Laurent daring to question his prowess, Damen appeared to actually be considering it.

If he knew what was good for him, Damen would now claim that he obviously didn't require Laurent's help. But then, when had there ever been any indication that Damen actually knew what was good for him? He'd hardly still be hanging around Laurent if he did.

"In that case," Damen said, "I'd be honoured to comply with Halvik's request, as long as you'll consent to using your undoubtedly _vast_ experience in bedding a woman to guide me through it."

The words were spoken sardonically, but Damen's gaze was challenging, making it clear it wasn't a joke. He'd put Laurent on the spot now, and he clearly knew it. Halvik's expression was expectant, as if she could see no reason why this coupling shouldn't proceed as described. Laurent had, after all, claimed responsibility for Damen before they'd even entered this camp, which the Vaskians took to mean Damen was basically under Laurent's control even if Damen was royalty himself. As far as Halvik was concerned, Laurent's oversight in these matters was probably just a part of that control, especially since Laurent had, in a way, offered.

Laurent could undoubtedly still get out of it. The knowledge that he did still have a choice here made him sorely tempted to take the easy way out. If only he wouldn't appear weaker to the Vaskians if he backed away now, especially if he couldn't then convince Damen to go do this 'duty' unsupervised. Perhaps even worse, he knew that Damen himself would certainly never forget it if Laurent retreated from a battle of wills.

Steeling himself, Laurent decided that it could be an opportunity, if he played it right, as it would finally give him a position of power over Damen. For once, Laurent would be unequivocally in control, and he himself would be able to remain mostly removed while Damen had to make himself entirely vulnerable.

So Laurent said, "I suppose if you're admitting that you're incapable of performing such a basic task on your own, I'll have to do what's necessary to make sure your performance won't reflect badly on me."

Halvik chuckled at that and acknowledged, "Perhaps you are braver than you look. Or more foolish. The Empress's leopards will bite even her if they're provoked enough. I imagine he's the same."

"He won't bite," Laurent returned, though it was directed as much at Damen as at Halvik, "unless he's prepared to lose his teeth."

Halvik laughed again and departed from the area around the coupling fires, calling back to them to join her when they were done, though it was clear she expected that to take quite some time.

"Last chance to back out," Damen murmured, too low to be overheard by the remaining Vaskian woman, Kashel. Not that she probably understood Veretian anyway.

Laurent bared his teeth in a not-quite-smile. "I'm not the kind of man who so easily reneges after I say I'll do something."

Kashel moved, sinuously sliding in front of Damen, but he ignored her in favour of continuing to look to Laurent. "You're just full of surprises today." Then: "Well? How shall we begin?"

"Have her undress you," Laurent said. "She's bound to be more adept at dealing with those laces than you, anyway, from what I've seen."

Laurent half-expected the language barrier to be a problem, but Damen only had to pluck demonstratively at the laces of his Veretian clothing and smile beckoningly at Kashel for her to start loosening, then eventually removing, his layers. It took some time, which was just as well, for it gave Laurent an opportunity to prepare himself. Eventually the borrowed Veretian clothes were flung off to the side, taking with them the foreign scent of another alpha that still clung to the borrowed garments. Kashel's less complicated tunic flew off in a fraction of the time, and the couple was left entirely bare to Laurent's eyes.

"Now kiss her," Laurent ordered. 

"How?" Damen asked. It was just shy of a taunt. If Laurent wasn't going to play it safe and back out, his expression seemed to say, then Damen wasn't about to go easy on him. "Apparently I'm liable to embarrass you without clear instruction, so you'll have to be a little more specific than that."

Laurent made his expression as hard as steel. "Careful. I could make this experience less than pleasurable for you, and you'd have no recourse given the situation. It will reflect badly on me if you refuse to follow through if I give you an order you don't like, certainly, but the same is true for you. These women know you are the would-be King of Akielos. You can't afford to lose their respect. So you can't afford to retreat any more than I can."

"Don't worry, I won't retreat from a challenge," Damen said. Which summed up most of his problems, Laurent thought. "You should have figured that out by now."

Laurent narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Kiss her softly," Laurent specified. "The contact should be barely there. She seems like she'd be accustomed to it being fast and fierce. Make her fully concede to an almost torturously slow pace instead, and only change the pace when I tell you to. Don't touch her beyond the kissing." 'Don't let her touch you' went unsaid, but it must have been obvious to Damen that that was the real point here.

Laurent suspected that Damen – a prince surrounded by eager-to-please slaves and admirers – tended to take his pleasure quickly and easily whenever it was on offer (not that Laurent had actually given Damen's bedroom habits any thought, of course). The hope was that Damen would find this experience more frustrating than enjoyable. Especially since earlier he'd unreservedly downed what Laurent suspected to be at least part-aphrodisiac, so he would very soon be desperate for more than a few almost chaste kisses, if he wasn't already.

Damen's lips flattened slightly, and for a moment Laurent thought he might refuse after all, or that he would alternatively try to push Laurent to be even more specific. But no. He leaned in, his fingertips delicately splayed around Kashel's jaw, and initiated a light brush of lips. His eyes, still open, were angled in Laurent's direction. Laurent returned the stare fearlessly, making certain to appear unmoved and wholly assessing. 

"I think she's enjoying that a little too much, don't you? Softer," Laurent commented when Damen took Kashel's lower lip between his teeth, making her let out an unmistakeably delighted sound.

Damen rolled his eyes, but complied.

Kashel was pliant enough to follow Damen's lead, but she was exceedingly free with her affections, so Damen had to keep catching her hands whenever they inevitably tried to wander. He chased her lips whenever she enthusiastically tried to move them elsewhere. He even backed off when she eventually gave that up in favour of trying to at least coax him once more into a more passionate kiss. It was a dance – one step forward only to retreat two paces – of which Laurent had lately come to know the rhythm by heart. Though it was odd to for once see Damen in the role of pursued rather than pursuer. 

Eventually, Kashel seemed to figure out that she could push things no further until Damen (or Laurent, really) was good and ready to allow it. Her body, which had until then been constantly trying to writhe against Damen's even as he shifted to prevent it, instead relaxed against him, moulding herself to him but not pressing impatiently at him. They moved synchronously for a long while, until Laurent, without even realising he was doing it, nodded his permission. Apparently Damen had been watching for that, for he then immediately began to escalate his attentions. A noise echoing from deep in Kashel's throat told Laurent that she was pleased that her patience, however hard-fought, was now beginning to pay off. 

That sound of satisfaction clearly was heard by Damen as well. That positive feedback, along with the physical sensations and his still-unerring focus on the nearby omega, were apparently enough to combine to make Damen's instincts rear themselves. The heady smell of interested alpha rose in the air, and Laurent forced himself not to shift or fidget in response. He succeeded at that much. But when he tried not to breathe it in at all, he failed. It felt like the scent was somehow caressing the back of his throat. Laurent wished he could claim that his slight shiver was because that sensation made him feel ill.

Under other circumstances, Laurent would have been content to have Damen draw out the kissing for longer, to let this flare of pleasure hopefully lapse back into relative nothingness. But honestly, Laurent was no longer so sure that he wanted to continue to prolong things. Not with Damen staring at him so knowingly. Of course, the alternative – speeding things up instead so that Laurent could more quickly finish with this and forget it had ever happened – was also full of potential problems, not least of which was that Damen had been right to laugh at the idea of Laurent playing at expertise when it came to bedplay with women. Laurent's knowledge on that was mostly limited to speculation that he'd overheard from his soldiers, and even then most of that was second-hand gossip. So 'moving on' here involved things Laurent didn't have much ability to describe, let alone actually orchestrate well, and he was certain it would show. 

"You can touch her now," was all Laurent said. "Lightly. But don't allow her to return the favour yet."

Laurent more than half expected Damen to shoot another 'how' in his direction, or perhaps a 'where'. Instead, while Laurent would hate to admit that Damen might have taken pity on him, he didn't press for details this time. He let Laurent continue to determine the speed, even when it was obvious Damen himself would have much preferred to progress faster, but Damen stopped protesting when Laurent's actual instructions remained vague. He even started offering his own suggestions for Laurent's approval, all 'should I…' and 'would you like me to…'. Each time Laurent either agreed or, when it was something about which he was a little more confident, tweaked the suggestion into something that Damen would hopefully be slightly less pleased to carry out, if only to see his expression as he had to follow Laurent's suggestions instead of his own preferences.

When things had finally progressed that far, Damen asked baldly, "Shall I work my tongue inside her?" and Laurent thought, yes, finally, something that would be certain to make Damen have to bury his face away from Laurent's sight; to break their prolonged eye contact. 

But Damen leaned Kashel right back, with her spine soon bending even further from pleasure, and proceeded to prove Laurent utterly wrong about that, continuing to meet Laurent's gaze along the curve of her arched torso. 

Damen briefly backed away from her, just long enough to let her catch her breath for a moment. He took the opportunity to say, slyly, "You know, this isn't so different to how it is with an omega, especially during heat." Laurent couldn't prevent the brief mental picture of Damen gathering the slick of Laurent's heat on his tongue just like that. Then Damen pointedly, so that Laurent could see every flicker of motion, swirled his tongue around the most sensitive part of her the way he would clearly have liked to circle around the tip of Laurent's cock.

When she was brought to climax and went lax and boneless, but still somehow wet and wanting more, it certainly _was_ something familiar to Laurent, as an omega. 

In a lapse of concentration, he pictured Damen there with him at the height of his heat, when all he'd wanted, despite himself, was an alpha ( _this_ alpha, even). He imagined shuddering in Damen's arms as he gripped Laurent's thighs just like that, supporting him, making him feel like it was okay to let go because he couldn't fall far while held so tightly. Unlike Kashel, in heat Laurent wouldn't truly be satisfied with only Damen's mouth, but that would be all right, because he knew well enough that Damen wouldn't keep him waiting. The moment Laurent gave an indication that it was welcome… any moment, even right now…

Laurent swallowed heavily, practically a gulp, designed to push all of that down where it couldn't resurface. 

He watched as Kashel twisted lazily in Damen's arms, languid but willing, as Damen carefully drew his body up hers so that he loomed all the way over her rather than being captured between her legs. Damen was, of course, still looking to Laurent with a question in his eyes. 

It was an understatement to say that Laurent was having some trouble being detached about this the way he'd initially planned. His breath was still short. Even if he'd known the details of bedding a woman, right now he wasn't sure that he could seriously guide Damen through a step by step guide on fucking her without his voice breaking embarrassingly, or trailing into a gasp. His grip on his outward composure hadn't slipped yet, but he had the feeling that it wouldn't take much. 

Instead of saying anything, Laurent merely nodded his approval once more. Without seeking any further clarification from Laurent, Damen manoeuvred himself into place and used his strength to lift the woman most of the way off the ground, wrapping her legs around him. The woman said something, but Laurent didn't hear the words, only her welcoming tone. He didn't see her expression either. His attention was solely on Damen, whose lips parted on a sharp exhale as he pressed forward.

Laurent could have probably left, then, without risking Damen stopping partway through the coupling and angering the Vaskians. Laurent hated to admit it (and never would do so aloud), but he doubted Damen would ever leave his partner wanting. And yet Laurent didn't so much as move a muscle. Somehow he felt as thoroughly pinned in place as the woman.

The shared eye contact between himself and Damen never broke for more than a second at a time from start to groaning finish, and Laurent's mind unconsciously memorised the way Damen's face looked as his provoking expression gave way to pure enjoyment. Uncomfortable but unable to look away, Laurent watched as Damen finally shuddered with release. His hands trailed over a similarly shaking body, quickly bringing the woman to a second climax, but all the while his eyes were tracing over Laurent's form instead of hers. Laurent could practically feel his touch.

Finally, Laurent looked away. He had to, even if it was a concession.

Only a fool could have watched what just happened and not understood that it hadn't really been Kashel who Damen was fucking. And as Laurent finally dragged himself from the fireside to find Halvik and continue discussions with her, he heard Damen say, "Thank you, but no more, sorry," to the uncomprehending woman. When he appeared back at Laurent's side shortly thereafter, the ties of his Veretian clothes were fastened, clumsily but still tightly, and he looked as though he was determined that they remain that way, and that no pawing Vaskian should remove his clothing for him again this evening. He'd clearly already got what he wanted tonight, after all, much to Laurent's annoyance.

If Laurent himself reached out to him, though, it was clear that those clothes would have been removed in mere moments, even if Damen had to tear through all the material like an animal to make that happen. 

"Well?" Damen prompted. "Have I performed the assigned task up to your standards?"

"Don't pretend that was a chore I forced upon you," Laurent said.

"Oh no," Damen replied, sounding irritatingly pleased with himself. "I'd never claim that. In fact, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Didn't you? You could have left at any time if you didn't."

Laurent said nothing. Unfortunately, that was probably answer enough.

**Author's Note:**

> By the way, I've decided that once my exams are over I'm going to _finally_ sit down and actually read through the whole Veretian Flytrap series the way I never really got to do while I was writing and posting it on the go. I think I've finally got enough distance from the exhausting experience of writing it so fast to come back to it. So, while I'm at it, if anyone has any scenes/side fics/other POVs they'd like to see in that verse (preferably that will actually fit properly into the series, unlike this thing, but if you're particularly dying to see some point of divergence play out, then okay), feel free to hit me up in the comments or by email at just-another-day@outlook.com. I could see about writing them in a few weeks when I'm reading it.


End file.
